Archive for January, 2006

They’re going well. I’ve learned how to ask if something is soap only to be informed that no, it’s actually shampoo which seems to be a common conversation in Spanish speaking countries.
And I’ve learned how to introduce myself to others. Unfortunately, using what I’ve learned from the CDs, everyone is going to think my name is Maria and that I am a student.

I’ve got a 45 minute drive to and from work. Even with 3000+ songs in my iAudio player, sometimes I just get bored.
So I picked up an 8 CD set to tech myself Spanish. I did pretty good in high school, so a lot of it is refresher course work, but I’m hoping by the end of the year to be able to hold a decent enough conversation with my dad (the bastard never taught me as a child).
Until then, bese mi asno!

There is an adage called the Peter Principle which goes
The theory that employees within an organization will advance to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a level at which they are incompetent.
Here at work, I think they’ve decided to forgo the promotion of incompetent individuals and simply hire them from the get go.
Update: How embarrassing. Spell check indicated I misspelled incompetent

I’ve got a meeting today, lovingly scheduled during lunch, that I absolutely do not wish to go to. You see, they don't usually let me go to meetings because I have this awful habit of saying what I think instead of simply nodding my head. I have no problem telling a VP that his idea won’t work and then lay out un detail the reasons why.
Did you know VP’s don’t like to hear things like that?
Anyway, our network admins purchased an Identity Management product. In short,...

Came up with a new nickname for Irelyn Mackenna.
iMac
Mrs. Marble isn’t thrilled with it. The rest of the family seems ok with it though. Georgia gets called ‘Little Ms. G’, but usually only when referencing her, not talking to her directly.
Maybe if I was more like Lileks and called her Gnat or something, I’d get more readers. Or if I was a better writer, or something.Who knows?

From Engadget
Not to be outdone by Nikon, who recently announced a nearly complete exit of the film-based camera business, Konica Minolta has just announced that they're pulling out of the camera biz altogether.
Man, film seems to be doomed faster than I thought. There will always be a specialty for it, but I bet it goes the way of audio tapes before we know it.

I’ve ranted about how stupid I find most restaurants’ obsession with plastic gloves that do nothing to protect customers from unsanitary conditions, but this one is even funnier.
The deli at the local Publix from where I work has a hairnet policy. Now, many of the women who work there have long hair and often it’s not all kept in the hairnets which is ironic in itself, but this takes the cake
The dude is 100%, completely bald. What, pray tell, is the hairnet protecting me...

I’m rather surprised Scott Adams is talking politics because the second you open your mouth about ‘em, you alienate half of your audience. Coming from a guy who writes cartoons, you’d think he’d avoid controversy to keep from scaring off readers, but damn, he just doesn’t seem to care.
Check out this gem –
I’ve also been called out on the fact that I have not mocked liberals with the same frequency as I have mocked people who happen to be...

Kept saying “I love you, Gary.” – Owner’s name was Chris.
LONDON - Chris Taylor, a 30-year-old British computer programmer, grew suspicious of his live-in girlfriend when his pet parrot began to imitate her saying, “I love you, Gary.”
Ziggy, an 8-year-old African gray parrot, would also make kissing noises whenever the name Gary was mentioned on TV and would mimic Collins saying, “Hiya, Gary,” every time she answered her mobile...

I’m not watching 24 this season. I’m under doctor’s orders to relax, and since each show is like watching a train wreck multiple times, it’s something I think I should avoid. Yes, the show is campy and far fetched, but it was very entertaining and kept me at the edge of my seat.
However, the last thing I need in my life right now is a thrill ride of a show to suck up even more of the limited time I have in the day. And I’m bummed about it. I guess I need to stick...

They’ve got nothin’ on some Germans
In a “slaughter room” fitted out with butcher’s bench, meat hook and cage, Meiwes severed Brandt’s penis and they both tried to eat it.
“Due to the consistency of the penis, this did not succeed, either raw or fried,” Koehler said.
Eeewww….

I was taking a few shots of Georgia tonight while I was testing out my new Alien Bees lights and Sloane happened to be sitting pretty, just waiting for her turn in the spotlight.
Not bad for never doing studio work, eh?

One thing I hear a lot from people is ‘Your camera takes such good pictures’. They think a $3200 camera + $2500 in lenses will automatically make all pictures come out great. They’re very wrong. While good equipment will help you consistently take better pictures, it’s the photographer that makes the picture look good, not the camera.
So, in a new series of posts here at Sharp as a Marble, I plan on giving out free advice so you can take better pictures at home. Yes,...

That’s how long it took me to get to work this morning.
A dump truck jackknifed on the highway, covering the road in 2 feet of gravel and spilled its fuel. They shut down the highway, and I didn’t find out until it was too late.
It’s amazing how boring the radio gets. Have I mentioned how much I hate car dealership commercials?

New Device Will Sense Through Concrete Walls
WASHINGTON - Troops conducting urban operations soon will have the capabilities of superheroes, being able to sense through 12 inches of concrete to determine if someone is inside a building.
The new "Radar Scope" will give warfighters searching a building the ability to tell within seconds if someone is in the next room, Edward Baranoski from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Special Projects Office, told the American Forces Press...

From patting myself on the back.
Had a bug in an application that I didn’t write. Checked the GUI, then the base library, then the database, then the data services classes, and debugged through about 2 or 3 thousand lines of code. This is akin to having a problem with your car not running right and having to pull out a microscope to check each bit of wiring for nicks.
And I found the problem. It even wasn’t a shot in the dark or a lucky guess. I actually used every last...

Irelyn officially started crawling last month. Not even 5 & 1/2 months old yet.
It’s not like she’s speed crawling across the floor, but it’s definitely up on all fours with a flump forward.
Guess I need to start vacuuming more. I wonder if those Roombas are worth it?

Today is Georgia’s first day of preschoolShe took to it like a fish to water. Mommy and Daddy of course had a little bit harder of a time letting go. It’s hard to believe she’s already starting pre-k.I’ll be all sad today ;0)

Welcome Sloane, our newest addition to the SaaM household
Georgia comforts her newest friend.
She’s 13 weeks old, blue-grey with hazel eyes. Bueller is taking her presence pretty well, Sloane is keeping her distance. I give them two days and they’ll be inseparable.